Zola Jesus - In Your Nature (David Lynch Remix)

Contain your excitement everyone. David Lynch, Godfather of weird, has remixed Zola Jesus’ “In Your Nature”. With Lynch being a huge influence on Nika Danilova’s music it’s a match made in heaven. The remix, which is the B side to the “In Your Nature” single, also ties in rather nicely with the fact that Sacred Bones are reissuing the soundtrack to Lynch’s Eraserhead on deluxe vinyl later this year.

Unsurprisingly Nika Danilova isn’t fond of remixes. She feels they’re rarely an improvement on the original song. With “In Your Nature” being one of the strongest tracks on “Conatus” with its thumping dance beats and high pitched strings anyone can see why Nika would be protective over her music but in her own words “when David Lynch asks to remix your song, you let him”.

The David Lynch remix follows the same structure as Zola Jesus’ original but the strings and synth beats are replaced with vocals that echo over steady drum beats, chilled guitars and Twin Peaks-esque keyboards that give the track an eerie yet uplifting feel. It could perfectly soundtrack the infamous Roadhouse’s Pink Room scene in Fire Walk With Me.

David Lynch has managed to make the song into something that competes with the beauty of the original track but still has his distinctive surreal and dreamy feel to it.

By Eden Young

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

When David Lynch announced that he was to release an album the world collectively shat it’s pants. “Finally!” they cried, “the man who singlehandedly changed 21st century popular culture is to bear his soul through music! Oh happy days!” And then came Good Day Today, a slice of grim electro pop delivering it’s fucked up sermon through gun noises and a vocoder. Tragically, it appears that it was a red herring, a gorgeous red herring that promised so much. Crazy Clown Time is by no stretch an easy album nor is it in anyway rewarding for it. Though Lynch has a history for being deliberately difficult and obtuse, the idiosyncrasies that litter the record are needlessly wacky and devoid of any real depth. Case in point: the seven and half minute spoken word piece Strange and Unproductive Thinking, Lynch (again speaking through a vocoder) rambles about higher beings, enlightenment, the future and the link between the “sub-conscious and the supe- conscious” minds until the message shifts into a lecture regarding the role of good dental hygiene in the progression of society and humanity. Sure, on paper it sounds a quirky interlude from everyone’s favourite fucked up sexagenarian, but when in reality it’s a plodding, lifeless dirge that manages the mean feat of daring the audience to continue whilst simultaneously boring them to death.


Musically, it’s a painfully one-note affair. Every track (save for Good Day Today, a beacon of light that is extinguished quickly by it’s placing second in the tracklist) sits uncomfortably on a bed of jazz drums and meandering slide guitars who never change drastically in pitch between tracks. Pretentious to the point of parody, it is not only a blemish on the near-spotless career of one of the world’s most fearless auteurs, it’s a hideous sign that maybe, just maybe, Lynch might just be losing his edge.


4/10
By Ned Powley

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

If it had been any other artist to release this track, you’d write it off pretty much immediately. The vocals are testing and the lyrics sound like something you’d find written on the wall of a toilet in a mental health ward in Slough. But this song is by David Lynch, so y’know, maybe there’s a little more to it if you scratch the surface. Grounded in a loose, jazzy drum loop and swamped in stomach-churning background noises, it’s not an easily accessible track in the slightest but it does give some clues as to which direction Lynch’s forthcoming debut might take. Considering the last track he put out was a slice of creepy electro-pop, this is a wholly different beast, but this can be expected of Lynch, he’s not a man known for staying still for very long.

Running at 7 minutes in length, Crazy Clown Time is a knowingly self-indulgent track and without some level of pretention it would fall on it’s arse. Thankfully Lynch plays it for all it’s worth: singing in a crackly falsetto, littering the background with slinky slide guitar and loading the refrains of "Daddy spilt beer on Sally" with enough menace to stop them sounding completely ridiculous.

By Ned Powley

Top 5 Twin Peaks Musical Moments

If you aren’t already familiar with the early 90s crime drama Twin Peaks, you should probably leave right now and look it up on Google. Twin Peaks combines unnerving characters with confounding storylines containing gaping plot holes that gradually build up towards a result that will equally confuse you. To celebrate the masterpiece that is David Lynch and this iconic cult programme, here is a top 5 musical moments from the show;

1. Those Opening Credits

The entrance to the dystopian world that is Twin Peaks, a theme song provides a fitting intro into this imaginary town full of amazing nature and wildlife but also full of sharp turns. There's something so uplifting about the scenic shots accompanied by the eerily positive music that doesn't quite prepare you for the murky depths beneath the seemingly clear surface in this typically rural town. Although you're more than likely inclined to skip past the intro on your DVD for most TV series, it's impossible to get tired of this compelling yet strikingly 'missing jigsaw piece' effect video. 


2. Laura Palmer's Theme

Although not included in the proper Series 1, this scene depicting the emotional devastation of Laura Palmer's parents as they both understand what's happening when Sheriff Truman comes up to tell Leland. The atmospheric nuanced instrumental we later come to know as a trademark plays throughout the parents conversation and strangely crescendos to the uplifting piano progression the moment both Sarah and Leland realise the news. A spine-chilling moment.

3. Audrey's Dance 

Whenever Audrey bursts into sporadic dancing moments, you become more interested in Audrey but also you can't help but share the expression of the customers sitting down in the 'Double R Diner' as it's slightly bewildering and especially Donna who bares an uneasy smile, not quite sure what to do with herself. This comes just after Audrey has confessed to Donna that she fantasises about Dale Cooper and although it seems abstract (as do many things in Twin Peaks), you might find yourself infectiously clicking along accompanying Audrey's strange sway-dance. 


4. Cooper's Dream

Accompanying the first perturbing look into the secrets of Twin Peaks, first we are met with eerie drone that keeps you on the edge of your seat whilst we're guided through Cooper's dream but things take a turn for the jazz with The Man From Another Place dancing along to Audrey's Dance with flashing lights blaring as Laura Palmer whispers the name of the killer into Cooper's ear.  It's possibly not as surreal as the characters talking backwards gibberish but it's close and the incoherence makes for a very realistic dream scene, which would later become one of the most iconic scenes from the show. 


5. The Awkward Singing Scene with James, Madeleine and Donna

Firstly, why does James sound like Gross Magic? Or vice versa I suppose you could say. This is the ultimate awkward moment when the three sing "Just You And I" together and you realise both Madeleine and Donna have fallen for James (god knows why). It just shows the technology used to improve voices before autotune infected everything and even the creepiest shows can have a musical number for no reason. 


By Aurora Mitchell